The food that you eat influences how you feel. It's fuel. Fuel should make you feel good. It should taste good, nourish your body, and provide you with the energy you need to tackle even the most challenging day.
Learn to make healthy, mindful choices and you will be able to gain control over poor appetite control. There are plenty of benefits to changing unhealthy eating habits. You will be more alert, energetic, healthier, and it will help you build a positive relationship with food as well.
Many people rely on food as a coping mechanism. When faced with emotions like anxiety, stress, sadness and other negative feelings it's food they turn to for comfort. This provides short-term relief, yes, but it just results in guilt and regret. This will only lead to more negative feelings. Using food as a course of treatment does not deal with the problem.
What does psychology have to do with weight management? Ultimately, it's the science of behavior and your behavior is what causes your eating patterns. You have to identify those patterns in order to change your habits.
Your level of self-awareness matters in terms of what you're eating, what it's doing to your mood, how it influences your daily life, and how it impacts appetite control. If you aren't paying attention to your triggers, if you're not being mindful of portion control and food choices, then you're not in a great position to change.
If there are certain settings that contribute to you over or under eating, then you have to control things better. If you know for a fact you indulge when you sit in front of the television during dinner, then you have to eat at the table instead.
Self defeating thoughts including, It's just too tough or I can't handle this or If I don't hit my target weight, then I'm a failure, only set you up for failure. When faced with these thoughts, you have to change your self talk for example, I have to get to the bottom of what's triggering this appetite problem so I can create a plan.
Lastly, to overcome poor Behavioral Patterns you must make meaningful and lasting lifestyle changes, pay attention to portion size, practice moderation, be mindful when you eat and choose to eat healthy food.
